Proposed law on withdrawal from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention submitted to the Parliament

Draft Law on Withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines Received by the Verkhovna Rada, said Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

"This decision [to withdraw from the Convention] is due to the security challenges posed by Russia's ongoing armed aggression against Ukraine and the need to ensure proper protection of the state and citizens," he emphasized.

According to Stefanchuk, the Rada will consider this document at the next plenary session.

According to the schedule, this should happen next week.

• on June 29, President Zelenskyy signed a decree to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention. The Foreign Ministry noted that the document restricts Ukraine's right to self-defense and at the time of accession to the agreement there were no circumstances of Russian aggression, the Ministry noted that Moscow, which did not sign the agreement, massively uses such mines and has gained an asymmetric advantage.
• In addition to Ukraine, other neighbors of the Russian Federation have decided to withdraw from the Convention – Poland and Finland, as well as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Lithuania and Finland are going to organize the production of such weapons and become suppliers to Ukraine.
• The use of anti-personnel mines is criticized by some humanitarian organizations as "an uncivilized means of warfare".
• Among the countries that have not joined the Ottawa Convention are the United States, China, India, Pakistan.